How Do Cuban Journalists Report from Their Facebook Profiles? Agenda Setting and Journalistic Roles

Abstract

Since the appearance of digital social networks, mass media have promoted the active presence of their journalists on these platforms. Facebook is the most widely used social media platform in Cuba, which has allowed Cuban journalists to share their agendas and stay in touch with the public. This article examines how journalists in Santiago de Cuba use their personal Facebook profiles for informational purposes and the journalistic roles they assume on this platform. The professional roles were analyzed considering three elements: journalists' communicative practices on their personal profiles, the relationship between the thematic agenda of their posts and their personal agenda, and the production routines that shape the journalistic use of their profiles. A sequential mixed-methods research design was employed, combining content analysis of the posts and semi-standardized interviews with the journalists. The results show that the agenda of the posts addresses recurring topics from the media outlets for which the journalists work, while their personal agendas focus on issues with a direct impact on their daily lives. It was found that most journalists neither respond to nor react to the posts, and only a small percentage of interactions involve responses in the comments, mainly related to Culture or Sports. Informative practices and the roles that journalist adopt are influenced by the editorial policies of their media outlets and interpretations of national regulations on state public communication, transferring to the platform the tensions inherent in the Cuban press model.